


Mr. Right

by Not_You



Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Age Difference, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Attempted Rape, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Pregnancy, Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-06
Updated: 2013-05-16
Packaged: 2017-11-13 16:15:08
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/505365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Not_You/pseuds/Not_You
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for this prompt on Avengerkink:<br/>http://avengerkink.livejournal.com/9218.html?thread=20178690#t20178690</p><p>This was two fics, the first called 'The Wrath of Coulson', but hell with it, they make one pretty easily.  Darcy is a bit shy of Alphas because one tried to rape her in the past.  Currently she's working at SHIELD, and is close to Coulson, who's a nice, respectful Alpha and actually has what is essentially an Omega panic room for badly-timed heats or whatever.  When the same guy and his asshole friends attack Darcy again, she gets to safety just in time for Coulson to decimate them.  Moved by this display of ferocious Alpha-ness on top of their solid friendship, Darcy gets him to take care of her in her next heat, all nice and consensual and loving.  And dirty, of course.</p><p>And then I added more.  Standby for some background and a relationship.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"I WILL KILL YOU ALL!" It's a bass bellow that almost doesn't sound like Phil at all. She braces for gunfire, but there isn't any. Just snapping and choking and furniture being violently rearranged. Muffled cursing and grunts of exertion, then a helpless yipping sound and dark, derisive laughter. More snapping. Some gurgling and another loud thud. "Kent, I'd eat your fucking liver if it wasn't white. Stay down." Darcy whines softly, clenching her thighs tightly, slick dripping onto the floor. Even if she wasn't on drugs, Coulson in full-on Alpha mode is hot. And well, kinda scary. But hot. And scary. There's a peephole in the door, and she staggers up to look through it.

Phil's office is a fucking wreck. The desk is overturned, the window is broken, all the prints have been knocked askew, and all five of the dickheads are sprawled on the floor, groaning or unconscious. Phil is standing in the middle of it, shoulders heaving as he catches his breath, trembling in rage. He's more disheveled than she's ever seen him, it seems really wrong, like, violation of the laws of physics wrong that he's not straightening his clothes, not combing himself back into order like a cat. He just stands there, bloody fists flexing. She can hear him growling quietly.

"Phil?" It comes out shakier than she wants it too, but there's no helping that, not with lust and terror having some kind of thermonuclear war inside her.

"Are you all right, Darcy?"

"Y-yeah. They grabbed at me and said some nasty things, but I was in here before anybody got anywhere."

"Good." It's a low snarl, and he kicks the ringleader, that son of a bitch who went after her two years ago, jarring a low groan of agony out of him. "Thank the lady for your life."

"Fuck you!" He lashes out with one arm and Phil stomps his hand as if it's some venomous creature, making him howl.

"Don't test me." Phil's patience is deadly. He will stand there all day, the sharp edges of the sole of his shoe digging into skin, and all of them know it.

"Thanks," he growls.

Phil clucks disapprovingly, shaking his head. "No, no, that won't do at all."

"Coulson..."

"Say, 'thank you for the gift of my worthless life, Ms. Lewis.'"

He says it. Phil makes them all say it, and only then does he call other people to collect them, to take all their information and ban them from SHIELD premises and probably take them to a hospital instead of prison, 'cause damn. Darcy stays locked up the whole time, everyone very understanding. There's a little scent-blocking airlock they can pass things through, and they give her some tiny, hexagonal blue pills. She knows what they are in theory, but has never expected to have to use them. Two years ago it had been her stupid beta friend giving her sugar pills, so the heat had been natural, just catastrophically timed. These miniscule tablets are a strictly controlled substance, and for good reason. They'll cut through the synthetic heat, but they've got off-label uses that kill. Darcy, being their target audience, downs all three of them with one of the zillion bottles of water Phil keeps this placed stocked with.

She calms almost immediately, and dims the lights, taking a nap while Phil takes care of everything outside. It seems a little unfair, somehow, but there isn't much she can do about it. When she wakes up she feels icky from having slept in her clothes, and still definitely in heat. But it's okay, because she's safe in here and it's normal heat, just serious horniness and a little languor, nothing that overrides her mind. She sits up and yawns, stretching her arms and wincing at the way her bra is digging into her. She takes it off and sets it aside, rubbing her eyes.

"Darcy?" Phil sounds like himself again, enough to make her wonder for a bizarre moment if she dreamed the whole thing.

"Yeah?"

"Just making sure you're all right. Do you need anything?"

"...Food. Porno."

"Check the back cabinets for porn. What would you like to eat?"

"...Something prewrapped? It's not that I don't trust you, just--"

"I understand, Darcy." And he just sounds so fucking sad. "I'll be back soon."

While he's gone, she checks out the porn, amused and turned on that Phil actually thought to do this. It's all dynamic and gender combinations, too. Alpha females plowing Omega males, Beta on Beta action, Omegas with their hands buried inside each other, Betas licking and sucking Alpha knots. Darcy shivers, and leafs through her choice of high-end, glossy magazines, giggling and wondering what Phil's Alpha scent is like, because it must be all over the place now, as angry as he was. She wriggles, thighs pressed together, and wonders how in the hell she can still feel so scared and violated (intent matters, dammit) and still want Phil's knot. Because she absolutely does, and can only suppose it's some kind of Omega reptile brain thing, wanting a strong and protective Alpha, which Phil most definitely is.

Like he's been summoned, he's there at her little airlock. "I wasn't sure what you'd like," he says softly, and passes through a microwavable burrito, two kinds of sandwich, some fruit leather, mint M&Ms (something hardly anyone even knows she likes), a beautiful red-green apple that has to have come from his own supply because the cafeteria only has Red Delicious, three ice cold cans of Dr. Pepper and a bag of the tomato basil chips that Clint hoards in his mostly-disused office.

"Wow, thanks."

"I can't help it." he sounds plaintive, and she realizes that his instincts must be kicking him in the ass right now.

"Shit, I bet you're wired."

"What about you?"

"I've heard the little blue pills can act kind like Valium, and I guess they are. I'm actually pretty calm."

"Good."

"Hey, Phil?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks."


	2. Chapter 2

Phil does his best not to crowd Darcy. Though the predator who stalked her all the way to SHIELD and all his little friends are safely imprisoned, the blood is still burning in Phil's veins. That they could get close enough, could even manage something like that on his premises, could plot to drug and rape one of his Omegas right under his fucking nose-- Phil takes a deep breath, makes himself actually read the forms in front of him. Darcy is safe. And incredibly brave, having only taken the time for her heat off before coming right back to work. Darcy is safe and there are still bloodstains on his carpet. He sniffs them sometimes, when no one is around. They've been cleaned and cleaned but there is still the tiniest whiff of fear. It soothes him.

Crouched on the floor and messing up the crease of his trousers, a knock on the door makes him leap up as if stung. "Yes?"

"Found those files you wanted." And she sounds just like herself even though he knows she's still scared sometimes, and his heart turns over in his chest. She takes a lack of protest for permission (and she always does and he will not think of her as a loveable scamp even if she is one) and steps inside. Phil tries not to swallow audibly, because in the wake of being attacked, Darcy has gone for defiance. She looks polished and perfect and poised and Phil can only thank an occasionally merciful god that she's at the lowest point of her cycle. She still smells good, a light, flowers and fruit kind of perfume over freshly-washed girl, but it's only going to his head a little. He's too old to stare stupidly at her breasts, but it's a near thing.

Darcy's top is only within regulations because of the blazer she is no longer wearing, hung over one arm. Red lace glows against that pale skin, and Phil pulls himself violently out some very immersive imaginings of what it would feel like against his jawline as he covered Darcy in kisses. "Thank you, Darcy. We really need to digitize that section."

"I'll say." She shakes some dust out of her blazer, and Phil prays for strength, watching the motion. "I blew as much off that folder as I could, but I wouldn't recommend touching your suit with it."

"Duly noted." He smiles, because lust or not, he likes having Darcy around. "Coffee?" He keeps his own coffeemaker, because anything out in the open gets broken or stolen or modified to make something else. The something else doesn't have to be potable, as on one memorable occasion when a much younger Sitwell had set one up to dispense ichor.

"Always ready to slack off." She beams at him. "Do you have any more of that awesome Bailey's flavored creamer?"

He's so relieved that he has what she wants, that he can provide for her and make her more comfortable in any way that it actually gives him goosebumps. He needs some time off. "Of course I do."

He picks her favorite of his mugs, of course. He's made a habit of keeping at least four around at all times ever since he started being the one younger people came to for advice, and Darcy likes the Hello Kitty one Clint gave him. She also takes two of the flavored creamers and no sugar, something he's known for a long time. She grins, accepting the mug with both hands. "You're so awesome. I bet you know how everyone in this department takes their coffee."

He ponders that, filling his own Captain America mug. "Perhaps, with a margin of error for people who don't like coffee."

"Who the hell doesn't like coffee?"

"Director Fury, for one."

"Really? He drinks it all the time."

"That's cocoa with amphetamine."

She stares, and then bursts out laughing. "Holy crap, I believed you for a second! Unless..." She cocks her head warily, and Phil smiles.

"I'm pulling your leg. I've seen him take speed a few times, but he doesn't bother with the cocoa." He shudders slightly. "All of them were vastly unpleasant, but productive."

"Poor Phil." She smiles so sweetly that Phil wonders which of his past sins this is punishment for.

Darcy is beginning to wonder what she's going to have to do to get through to Phil. She doesn't want to actually sit him down and say, "I am extremely attracted to you and you make me feel safe enough to want to tie for the first time, come to my house in two weeks," but she will if she has to. It just seems like he's smart enough to get it without this much help. Sure she always hangs around him, but she smells a little different even to herself, and she's been flirting as hard as she can without being trashy. Things are getting desperate as her next scheduled heat approaches. It's been almost three months, and Phil still isn't taking the bait. It would be one thing if he didn't want it, but he so clearly does that it makes Darcy feel like tearing out her hair.

So it seems providential when she comes in a particularly soft-footed day to find Phil holding her jacket close, like a proxy of herself, face buried in the lining near the collar. She's in preheat, not horny yet but unusually aware of everything around her, and her scent is changing. His head snaps up and she has never seen anyone look so hunted in her life. She's kind of afraid of giving him a heart attack just by being here, but she can't just leave him thinking she's disgusted instead of so turned on she wants to just bend over the desk right now. So she takes a deep breath, and smiles.

"It's okay."

"D-darcy, I--"

"It's okay. I was hoping I wouldn't have to get really obvious, but here it is: I want you. I'm coming into season again and you are the one I want."

He hangs the coat back up with trembling hands, blushing. It's adorable, and she shivers, wanting to taste him. "I... You're a lot younger than I am, Darcy."

"Which is why I want you to be the first one to tie me." Phil actually groans at that, eyes huge as he claps a hand over his mouth. Darcy beams, blushing a little. "I know you care about me, and you're like, Mr. Competence 2012. I know you'd do it right."

Phil struggles to catch his breath and to suppress a whimper. "I would be honored," he finally says, and something about how serious he is makes her stomach flutter.

"My place, Monday night. They'll give you leave for then, right? 'Cause I probably won't really be until Monday, Sunday would just be a cocktease."

"They'll give me leave." Phil shudders. He hasn't asked for leave in nearly a year. Fury has started all but throwing it at his head in desperation, and Phil knows that all he has to do is ask for next week.

Darcy grins from ear to ear. "Wonderful." And then she comes closer and kisses him, and Phil wonders how the hell he's going to survive Thursday, Friday, and the weekend after them. He feels like he'll die right this moment as Darcy pulls away with a cheeky grin and scribbles her address on the back of one of her business cards, tucking it into Phil's pocket.

In the end it all comes down to compartmentalization. He doesn't talk to Darcy much over the next couple days, barely even looks at her, off his suppressants and using enough camphor gel to give himself a headache, to keep him from smelling anyone. He's so worked up he actually snarls at Natasha, his trusted packmate and loyal second. The wounded shock in her eyes makes him ashamed of himself, and he buries his face in his hands, apologizing.

"Phil, what's wrong?"

"I'm going off my meds."

She stares at him for a long moment, and then smiles. "Little Darcy, then?"

"Please, I already feel like a dirty old man."

"Well. Go with my blessing, and remember to enjoy yourself."

Phil laughs, some of the tension eased. Still, he's phenomenally grateful to lock his office on Friday, his phone set to divert all calls to Hill, who he trusted to explain things. He goes home and jerks off and takes four showers a day and waits. And then Darcy calls him at eight on Monday night, breathlessly whispering that now would probably be a really, really good time to come over.

Phil has had a bag packed for days, and puts on some of the only clothing he can bear, bolting out to the car. Halfway there and twenty-five miles per hour over the speed limit, he realizes that he's not carrying his license and that he doesn't care.

Omega nesting instincts are pretty hard to deny. Darcy's apartment is usually dirty, but in the throes of pre-heat she has cleaned it, and now the place practically fucking sparkles. It's warm, too, and she finds herself doing things like nuzzling the curtains so the whole place will smell of her and the honey-lavender candles she had felt compelled to light. They provide low, golden illumination, and wandering around naked to adjust things and fluff throw pillows, she feels like a lantern, glowing. She's a traditional girl at heart, so she's not wearing anything but a waist chain of pure silver, a holdover from more ceremonial days. She also doesn't have any makeup on, and her hair is completely loose, uncurled. She had debated about her glasses, but in the end feels that not falling over things is more important than being perfect. She takes a last look around and sighs. Slick is running down her thighs, but she doesn't want to touch herself before Phil gets here if she doesn't absolutely have to. She aches, though, and whimpers as she makes her way to the couch, curling up on one end and waiting, eyes on the door.

Phil whimpers, resting his head on the steering wheel for a moment, finally parked. He looks up and goes weak at the knees to see that Darcy has actually hung traditional red streamers out her window, the old-fashioned kind with silver embellishments. Most people now just use a ribbon or something to signal that all screaming that isn't actually 'stop', 'no', or 'help' should be ignored. There are more on the doorknob when he finally, finally reaches her floor. He's able to follow her scent down the hall. He meets another Alpha who stares for a moment of pure shock, and then lowers his head and skitters past, radiating inoffensiveness. Phil watches him out of sight, growling softly, then almost runs to Darcy's door, taking a deep breath that might not be wise. He wobbles a little, then knocks gently. He tries not to pant audibly.

Darcy lets him in and just pounces on him, kissing him roughly and grabbing fistfuls of his shirt, frustrated that he's wearing one at all. "You're not naked enough," she growls, and he moans, face buried in her hair.

"We can fix that."

They do fix that, leaving Phil's clothes in a pile right inside the door. He would ordinarily feel self-conscious with someone as beautiful and as much younger as Darcy, but now she melts in his arms, licking the scars on his chest. He growls and nuzzles her hair, drowning in her scent.

"I'm so glad you're here," Darcy whispers, needy and vulnerable as she presses against him, and Phil growls, holding her possessively close and nuzzling her neck. He doesn't bite yet, even though she presses against his mouth. Biting is for later. He holds her for another long moment, savoring every inch of her skin against his.

"Do you want to run?" He finally asks, and almost doesn't recognize the dark, rich growl his voice has become.

Darcy whines sharply, because now she understands it. She's never gotten the appeal of running from some sweaty-palmed fool and having to trip yourself to let them catch up, but now she nods and pulls away. She doesn't waste time feinting, just bolts straight for the bedroom and she can't even hear Phil behind her but she knows he's there and her room is like a cave, dim light and safety. Her heart is pounding and she thinks she might be leaving a trail of slick for Phil to follow. Now she can't hear anything over the blood in her ears and this good, anticipatory fear. Roller coaster fear, nothing like the acrid adrenaline stink and terror of being attacked. And then Phil is tackling her to the bed, one hand cradling her head to keep it from hitting anything, so careful even as he pounces. Darcy whimpers and then cries out as he sinks his teeth into her neck, making her whole body go loose and helpless.

Phil can smell the contraceptive implant in her arm, just a soft, bitter note that adds to the whole because of the security it represents. He feels an atavistic, feral urge to break Darcy's skin, to taste the blood that must be as sweet as any other part of her, but he doesn't. He doesn't want to be too rough, and just leaves a mark before letting go to roll Darcy onto her belly where she whines and wriggles, struggling to spread her legs as wide as possible. Phil whines, and raises her hips. Darcy arches her back and mewls, beautifully presented to him. He purrs approvingly, leaving his hands where they are as he leans in to lap at her inner thigh, moaning at the taste of her heat.

"G-g-good?" Darcy whispers, trying to see him over her shoulder.

"Very good." He presses a line of kisses upward, making her writhe and beg for him to stop teasing, to give her what she really needs. Phil groans, and slides against her once and then again and again, then lines up and pushes in. Darcy squeals and slams back, taking him as deep as she can, hands on the headboard shoving her whole body back. She's so tight it almost hurts, and Phil groans, panting and biting her shoulder again, grinding into her so hard that her arms shake and fall to the pillow. Darcy doesn't need to strive to get him any deeper, he's _there_ , and she moans deep in her chest, panting and shaking, clenching even tighter. Once he's sure she'll still be feeling the head of his cock when he withdraws, Phil starts to fuck her slowly, still deep, half-inflated knot never leaving her body.

"Ohfuck, oh fuck, oh fuck _Phil_..."

He growls, pulling out and making her jump and whine. He fucks her with just the last part of the shaft for a while, high school style. She finds it as exasperating at he always did, growling and cursing and squeezing as tightly as she can around it, craving his knot. And then, when she's good and desperate, he gives it to her, shoving it in against all that tightness. Darcy squeals again, blushing badly and craning her neck to look back at him with wide eyes, glasses askew, hair a complete mess. He knots one hand in those dark tresses and tugs, startling a high-pitched cry out of her that deepens to a groan as he bites her neck.

Phil keeps his grip on Darcy's hair and fucks her hard, making wet, slapping sounds as his knot forces its way in and out. It's a little more than half of full size now, and Darcy just keeps gripping tighter and tighter but always yielding for him, mewling and moaning desperately. Her skin is dewed with sweat, and she writhes and bucks under him, cursing and sobbing and then she's coming, spasming around him and then locking tighter than anything he's ever felt, forcing his orgasm out of him. He groans and makes a few little reflexive thrusts as his knot expands to full size, stretching Darcy to her limits and keeping her plugged with what feels like a flood of his come. She moans, and Phil shudders to realize that she's gone limp, that his cock in her and his hips against her are what's keeping them up. He whimpers quietly, and tips them to one side, cradling Darcy back against his chest. He manages to get a blanket over them, and kisses her neck and strokes her hair, sighing softly. Darcy moans again, shivering happily. "You have the most amazing cock ever."

Any other time, Phil would blush and stammer, but now, tied to Darcy and with his arms full of her, possessive and sated, and he can only growl, "Good."

Darcy coos. "You better be down to do this next time."

Phil snarls at the thought of anyone else taking his place, arms tightening. But not enough to hurt Darcy. Never enough for that. "Mine."

She giggles. "Cave Phil. I like it."

"Mm." He nuzzles her neck and dozes off for a little while, both of them breathing together.


	3. Chapter 3

Darcy wakes slowly, and mewls to find herself alone. Her Alpha should be here. Her Alpha should be inside her. She aches again and is on the verge of tears before Phil comes in and immediately gathers her up into his arms, rubbing her back. "I just had to make us something to eat for later, sweetheart. I would never leave you."

"Okay," Darcy whimpers, clinging around his neck like a child. She can't help it, she always gets incredibly needy when she's in heat. Neither of them is hungry at all, but they'll be starving later, and probably too worn out to make sandwiches. The first day is strong, but the second day is the strongest, and she slides down onto his hard cock without thinking about it, straddling his lap and wrapping her legs around his waist as he growls and bites her neck again. Each bite goes straight to her clit and she whines, rocking on Phil because his knot is only half-size, and she needs all of it. She tells him so, whispering in his ear, and shudders as he whimpers in response and grinds up into her.

"Give you everything," he growls into her ear, cradling the back of her head in one hand and pushing forward to put Darcy on her back, and she keens, nails digging into his back as she comes on his knot.

They spend pretty much that entire day fucking or tied, and manage to share a small bowl of pasta before even more fucking. Darcy's heats are always pretty epic, and this one is amazing because she has Phil. She's pretty much ruined for anyone else, and tells him so at the end of the third day, when the pheromones have run out and they can have an intelligent conversation again.

Phil blushes, modesty and scruples back in force as he comes down. "Darcy, I'm old enough to be your father."

"And yet you're nothing like him, next!"

He has to laugh. "I suppose I shouldn't reject my undeserved good fortune."

"Undeserved my ass. Which you totally do deserve, and I was serious when I said I wanted you next time. I also want you in between, but we should maybe do something about you being my boss."

"I can transfer you to Sitwell, which will only be a cosmetic change."

"You're so smart," she coos, and he blushes again. "And adorable." She leans across the table and kisses the top of his head.

Darcy had come to work for SHIELD after her internship with Jane had gotten so fucked up. It had been Phil to offer her the job. She hadn't been inclined to trust anyone in the service of The Man, particularly not the one who had stolen all of Jane's stuff (and her fucking iPod, dammit) but the contract had been legit and the pay had been good and for work she knew how to do. Further, SHIELD had Omega panic rooms and other safety precautions, and she had certainly been able to appreciate that. She wouldn't have been so scared two years ago if there had been somewhere in the building to go. The school was still installing the panic rooms when Jared the Creepy Grad Student (as he had been known in Darcy's apartment) had gone after her.

She had first started to change her mind about Phil when she had seen that he had one of the panic rooms, and that the lock was the good kind with a pheromone register, so even an Alpha who knew the entrance code couldn't open it once the lock was engaged. She had finished changing her mind about Phil when she had seen his reaction to one of the other interns using it. She had been pulling some ancient files out of Phil's battered cabinet when Richard had come bolting in, eyes huge. Strong whiffs of early heat had been coming off of him, and he had practically flown past her to that heavy door, slapping the button that would open for Omega pheromones and hurling himself inside, slamming it shut behind him.

"Woah," was all she had been able to say, because Richard isn't the kind of guy to run anywhere. Phil had come in then, looking worried.

"Richard?"

"In the box, he should be fine."

Phil had smiled then, in that sweet, proprietary way the best of Alphas have, and had gone right over to ask Richard if he needed anything to eat, and telling him that he would call Trisha and just to wait. He had turned to Darcy then and asked her to run down to the cafeteria and get Richard a tuna sandwich with no tomato, and she had overheard him on his phone as she went out, soft voice greeting Trisha and letting her know that her Omega was safe, but needed her. He had been so kind to everyone involved that Darcy had actually felt her heart melt, a blooming warmth in her chest.

Now Darcy purrs, cuddled up in Phil's lap because he's just as snugglable out of heat, lightly kicking her feet and resting her head on his shoulder. "Comfortable?" He murmurs.

"Yeah." She sighs, and is suddenly reminded of Jared again, just because she feels so safe with Phil that she wouldn't even care if Jared burst in through the fucking window. Phil would handle it. "Hey, Phil?"

"Mm?" He nuzzles into her hair, breathing in her scent and purring.

"What happened to Jared, anyway?"

Phil snarls, the sound low and frightening. "Still hospitalized. Would you like him dead, Darcy? I can arrange that."

Darcy shivers, and wonders what it says about her that a death threat makes her wet. Well, context is important here. "Maybe. I'll let you know."

"Good," Phil murmurs, petting her.

"I should have actually reported him. Would you guys still have hired him?"

"I wouldn't have," Phil snarls. "I have no use for Alphas with no self-control. If someone else had hired him, I would have edged him out if I had known." He sighs, tangling one hand in the hair at the nape of her neck, his thumb stroking her skin. "I should have killed him then."

"I just can't believe he was obsessed enough to try it again."

"…I can," Phil says softly, stroking her hair, "But I can't imagine hurting you."

He can imagine dragging her to the doctor, though. The little blue pills can have lasting effects, and like a good Alpha he wants to be sure his Omega won't suffer them. Emergency suppressants are serious business, and Darcy lets them poke and prod her and look into her mouth and shine lights in her eyes so Phil will feel better. They give her a clean bill of health and she hops off the table and gets into her clothes again. The relief in Phil's eyes when he hears is worth all the inconvenience.


	4. Chapter 4

"So," Natasha says, "you're looking very chipper."

Phil blushes and struggles not to inhale coffee. He knows he must look terribly happy for a man back to doing all his own paperwork, but he is. "You're not going to ask me anything crass, are you?"

"I only have to look at you to know that it was amazing and at least the beginning of something serious."

"…Well played."

"You're glowing."

"Hush."

Natasha just laughs and lets him be. Clint comes by to rib him about Darcy's age with the immunity of a well-loved Beta, and Phil is still in an excellent mood when he finally chases Clint out.

Darcy swings by at the end of her work day, and smiles to see Phil hunched over paperwork. "I can still help you, you know."

"I suppose." Phil smiles up at her.

Time flies when one is working with a gorgeous young Omega, it feels too soon when he has to go home. And then Darcy asks to come with him, and everything is good again. He can feel the urge to get dangerously simple-minded around her, and pours all his focus into driving safely. At a long light, Darcy giggling pulls him out of it a little, and he blushes.

"Thinking hard?"

"Trying to think at all."

She giggles again, and Phil smiles, not taking his eyes off the road. "That's right, laugh at the poor old Alpha. I don't care anymore. You're lethal to my dignity, Darcy."

"I don't know, I think you're holding together fairly well."

"Thanks."

They finally reach Phil's house, and it's all he can do not to carry Darcy inside, feeling alarmingly possessive. She shivers as the door shuts behind him. "Uh, are you in rut?"

"Maybe." Rut is a reactive thing that occurs when an Alpha feels a strong bond to an Omega. Because god has a sense of humor, it doesn't always synch up with heat. Phil blushes and squirms.

"It's totally cool if you are, you know."

"Uh, good," Phil says, blushing and loosening his tie.

"We're gonna have to start with knotrubs, though. It takes me longer out of heat."

"Of course." Phil is a little dazed, and can hear it in his own voice.

"Can we have a drink first?"

"Yes." Whatever his Omega wants, she gets, and Phil mixes her a Cosmopolitan on autopilot. He just has water, feeling drunk already. He holds the cool glass in both hands and tries not to squirm too much. Darcy beams at him, knocking back her drink and hooking a finger through one of his belt loops, leading him upstairs. He whimpers and lets her, feeling the puppyish, quivering submission that rut can bring on. Embarrassing as it can be, Phil is glad to be a puppy, since the other major option is to get fierce and aggressive and that might frighten his Omega and that's the last thing in the world he wants to do because he loves her so much and she's so perfect. He whines anxiously and Darcy smiles at him, opening the bedroom door.

"It's okay, baby." She leads him to the bed and guides him to lie on his back, stripping him slowly and giggling at the helpless little noises he makes. "Ssshhh, I'll take care of you," she coos, kissing the hollow of his throat and making him whine again, rock hard and leaking. Darcy reaches down and just strokes his shaft for an exasperatingly long time, making him groan and writhe before she finally takes off her own clothes and grips his knot with both hands, squeezing and kneading, imitating the automatic muscle contractions of a tied Omega. He groans and comes, getting hard again almost instantly. Darcy straddles him and sinks down, groaning happily as she takes his shaft and grinds down onto his knot. She's soaking wet, but it's much more of a stretch out of heat and he doesn't dare do anything but lie there and whimper as Darcy groans and wriggles, fighting to take his knot.

"Fuck, Phil," she hisses, and then cries out, resistance suddenly forcing past him. "Holy shit," Darcy gasps, "holy shit, that's good." Phil just whines, the sound pitiful and heartfelt. Darcy grins down at him, glasses crooked. "Man, can you even talk right now? I've never been with anyone in rut before."

Phil isn't sure he can talk, but manages to whimper her name and pull her down for a deep, hungry kiss. He doesn't say anything else for a long time as Darcy rides him, taking care of him in his rut as he did for her in her heat. She goes away just long enough to get a pitcher of water to share, and soothes and comforts Phil when she comes back to find him whimpering with loneliness. "There, there," she says, and covers him in kisses, soothing and arousing him all over again.

Luckily, rut comes and goes more quickly than heat, and by the next morning Phil is back to normal and slightly sheepish. Darcy just grins at him. "I don't know," she says, kissing his forehead, "I thought it was cute. And hot."

Phil blushes and grins back. "Good."

The next two months pass in connubial bliss, with Phil cooking for Darcy and Darcy buying him some slightly more interesting ties that aren't too flashy. These are old instincts that are happy to be indulged. Darcy starts complaining that she's gaining weight, but doesn't stop eating Phil's cooking, and if she rounds out a little it only makes her more beautiful. Two months later he's telling her so when the phone rings. It's Darcy's doctor, and Phil can't help but tense all over, terrified of gonadal cancers and internal bleeding and all the other unlikely but possible sequelae of drugged heat and stopping it. He passes the phone to Darcy, and paces, listening to her side of the conversation. She sounds curious, then alarmed, but not too alarmed. She thanks them, and hangs up, turning to Phil.

"Uh, Phil?"

"Yes?"

"I might be pregnant. Apparently my brand of implant can have delayed failure after a drugged heat, so…" She wrings her hands a bit. "You're not mad, are you?"

"Of course not." He wraps his arms around her and holds her close. "I'll go with you to your doctor's appointment."

"Okay." She leans on him. "If I am, I kinda wanna keep it. I mean, I know I'm young and it's unplanned, but it'd be ours."

The word appeals to Phil too, and he kisses her and tells her so, quieting her fears.


	5. Chapter 5

Darcy's doctor is a very kind female Beta, who talks to both of them about the probability that Darcy is pregnant (something like 80% with Phil's rut making him more fertile) and their various options before drawing some blood and sending it to the lab for testing. It takes hours, so they spend the day walking around the city and talking about everything else before going back to get their results. Darcy has realized that she'll actually be disappointed with a negative, and can only hope that Phil feels the same. He ushers her in with an arm around her waist, and the doctor smiles at them.

"Well. I hope this is good news, Darcy: you're pregnant."

Darcy can't help a little squeal, hugging her belly automatically. She glances over at Phil, though, having had friends whose Alphas who were fine with the idea but found an actual baby too much to handle and left. Phil looks right back at her, though, and beams. Muscles she didn't even know were tense relax, and she leans on him as she arranges her next few prenatal appointments.

She had thought she had seen Phil at his Alpha-est when he had taken out Jared and his scummy friends, but it's nothing compared to the way he acts now that Darcy is pregnant. She isn't even sure if he's sleeping anymore, because he's always awake to tend to her, willing to get her anything she wants at any time, and listen to any fears or strange dreams. He hates it when they have to separate at work, and is always hanging around Sitwell's office and making excuses to stop by. People put up with it because they can see that he'd shatter into Alpha rage if they tried to keep him away from his Omega, and because Phil is keenly aware of how irrational he's being, but really can't stop. He feeds Darcy more than ever, and wraps around her at night, holding her tightly in his sleep like he's afraid someone might take her away. Darcy is surprised to find herself liking this. She stops going anywhere by herself, and cuddles up in Phil's lap while they discuss names, feeling spoilt and loved and needy.

Other Alphas stay well away from her, able to smell her strong and possessive Alpha all over her, but her fellow Omegas are irresistibly drawn to her, giving her little treats and helping her with her work when she gets tired. SHIELD has good parental leave and she'll be able to take full advantage of it thanks to her bond with Phil. Jane is a Beta and therefore not on the same hormone train as other people, but she's excited for Darcy and gentle with her as well, driving her to appointments when Phil has to be away, which he hates.

Phil is there at her 13-week checkup, though, and is holding her hand when the technician tells them that they're having a healthy female Alpha. Darcy would have been thrilled with any sex and dynamic, but she's particularly happy with this one. Phil's parents are both dead now, but he was always close to his father, a sweet and gentle woman whose soft smile in old photos makes Darcy wish they could have met. When Darcy calls her parents, they're just happy that their baby and grandbaby are both healthy. They've had some severe misgivings about Phil's age, but Darcy is happy and they've seen for themselves that Phil treats their daughter well.

The biggest shock of Darcy's whole pregnancy (after learning that she's one of those lucky bitches who don't get morning sickness) is that the Avengers actually team up with Jane to throw her a baby shower. The traditional color for baby girls is soft pink, and for baby Alphas is gold, so Darcy receives some adorable baby clothes in pink with gold ribbon trim, and all kinds of bottles and pacifers and rattles as well as some more personal gifts. Tony and Steve have teamed up to make a beautiful mobile that doubles as a baby monitor, and Thor has brought her a protective amulet from Asgard, beaming as she puts it on. "My mother sends her best wishes as well," he tells her, and Darcy just thanks him, hoping that being friends with Frigga's son will help with this whole baby thing. 

As her due date gets nearer Darcy gets more and more nervous, and poor Phil gets more and more tense, always ready to explode with rage at everyone but her. With Darcy he's completely gentle at all times, and doesn't even raise his voice. With everyone else he gets bad enough that Fury gives him emergency leave to try and get his hormones in order, and Darcy has to hold his hand as he sits in a hospital bed and snarls as they draw blood, not liking anyone being anywhere near his Omega with anything sharp. Darcy just tells him to calm down and pets him while they wait for his results. He could just be a throwback with strong hormones, or he could have a glandular tumor, so they're very glad to get a clean bill of health for Phil.

"There's nothing wrong with you," the sweet-voiced Omega doctor tells him, "you're just an atavistic Alpha. Still, these are modern times and you'll kill someone over a parking space at the rate you're going."

He turns out to need a daily injection, and it makes him nauseated and Darcy hates that he has to feel this way, but at least they're able to go back to work. Since Darcy's job doesn't involve much heavy lifting or time on her feet she's able to keep doing it until she's about as big as a house, a giant orb in frumpy maternity clothes. She can't help but feel self-conscious, but when Phil gets her alone he makes her feel like the most beautiful woman in the world. He tells her that she's glowing, and kneels to worship the huge curve of her belly with his lips.


	6. Chapter 6

Darcy's water breaks at three in the morning, as is traditional. She wakes up cold and wet and confused, dim memories of peeing the bed as a child giving way to the realization that holy shit, it's time. A contraction rips through her then, and she can't help making a small noise of pain that has Phil instantly awake.

"Darcy?"

"Get my bag, it's time."

Phil yelps, and scrambles up. In times of crisis Agent Coulson keeps calm and walks briskly. Phil tries and fails to do this now, running for Darcy's bag and finding a big, comfy dress for her to wear. He comes back and tenderly helps her into it, asking if she needs anything else and practically tripping over himself to fetch her some ice chips. In scurrying to get Darcy ready and keep her comfortable, Phil winds up driving to the SHIELD medical center in his boxers and one of Darcy's over-sized band t-shirts. She's in too much pain to tease him about it and dimly reflects that that's a shame as little Astrid does her best to get out. It feels like the kid is using a can opener, but Darcy keeps as quiet as she can, because she doesn't want to worry Phil any more than he already is. His pheromones are a jagged mess and she thanks whatever gods were involved in Phil getting the right meds, because he really might kill someone without it. As it is he snarls at the gate guards, quivering with rage as they check his identification and waste a whole precious thirty seconds on it.

"Phil, less angry, please," Darcy says through gritted teeth, and he's instantly sweet as pie, all loving concern for her. She has to smile despite the pain, and then grimaces again as they drive forward. Getting out of the car is an ordeal, but Phil is there to help her into a wheelchair. He insists on being the one to push it and the staff don't argue. They make him gown up to be at Darcy's bedside, and she's glad of it. She can grind his hand bones to dust with each contraction, and when she absolutely has to squat to get this kid out, Phil growls at everyone who tries to stop her and helps her hold position. The doctor is reasonable and just smells soothing at Phil as he comes close enough to catch Astrid when she slithers into the world head-first and bawling.

"Congratulations," the doctor says, and gets on with the cleaning and the clamping and the weighing before he finally gives her back. The whole time poor Phil can't decide which of them to guard, and Darcy decides for him by taking his hand.

"We'll wanna know what she weighs, Phil. Come on."

"I know." He sighs, and the doctor smiles.

"Here she is, and perfectly healthy." He sets Astrid in Darcy's arms, and she is fucking in love. Some part of her mind knows how blotchy and fucked up looking Astrid is, but the rest of it tells that part to shut the hell up because Astrid is the most beautiful baby in the history of the universe. Darcy still feels like a quarter mile of heavily traveled gravel road, but somehow that doesn't matter, because her baby is here and alive and already figuring out how to nurse, smart and hungry like mommy. She helps Astrid nurse the way they showed her at those classes Phil had insisted on and had attended with her, and finally looks over at him. He's crying. Quietly and decorously like he does most things, but he's totally crying.

"Hey, Phil. You okay?"

"Am I okay?" He asks, voice cracking as it rises in disbelief. "Darcy, you're healthy and you smell so fucking content and you're holding our child. Of course I’m okay."

"Good," she says, "Now I can tell you that you forgot to put on pants."

Phil laughs, and the sound is beautiful. It's SHIELD protocol for new mothers to stay for three days while they and their babies undergo all kinds of screening for all the strange things SHIELD missions can expose people to. It's kind of a bummer, since none of Darcy's non-SHIELD friends have the right clearance to get in, but they put her in a cosy, dim little room where she can sit there and do nothing but dote on her perfect baby in peace. Phil is always there, happy and vigilant. His hormones have started to balance and he's been able to lower his dosage. By the time they can go home, he's off of it altogether, and finally smells like nothing but himself again as he helps her limp into the house, both of them careful of Astrid's precious squishy little head. For her part, Astrid sleeps through the whole thing, only waking up when Darcy puts her down in her bassinette, and even then she just looks up with big, drowsy dark eyes, making sure that mommy is somewhere nearby. Darcy sits and coos at her while Phil makes warm milk since Darcy wants something hot but doesn't want a caffeinated baby.

Astrid turns out to be an easy baby, who sleeps and eats when she's supposed to. Phil goes back to work first, but comes home early instead of late every day. He brings work home, but he's Phil, of course he does. Darcy helps him with it until Astrid is big enough to bring in to work. Every Omega on the entire floor comes to see the baby and so do Clint and Natasha, both of them beaming down at Astrid.

"Aw, she's pretty like her mother."

"At least you're allowed to say so," Natasha says, amused.

"Allowed to say what?" Phil asks, coming in despite the fact that his office is a floor up.

"That Darcy's pretty," Clint says, gently fuzzing Astrid's shock of dark hair.

"Of course Darcy's pretty," Phil says, and kisses her on the cheek, arranging to eat lunch with her later. Watching him go, Darcy smiles.

**Author's Note:**

> I'd just like to thank the person who gave me the invite code, since this is the fic that motivated them to do it. *tips hat*


End file.
